Rain Fly from Old Tent

Greetings from Michigan!

This is my first post (been lurking for weeks). I'm gathering my first hang kit and I'm in need of a tarp to complete the package.

I've been a tent camper for years and a big fan of the Eureka Timberline tent (2-person) - I've had one for years. When I found one at a garage sale for $20, I could not pass it up (spare parts and such). Anyway, these tents have a rain fly that's very compressible, light and strong. I thought, why couldn't I use this over my hang?

I'm setting up a Grand Trunk UL. It's about 100" flat and 83 when hung w/ a structural ridge line. I searched the forum for information about folks that may have converted a tent fly (seems like someone must have tried this).

Will it work? Am I setting myself up for FAIL?

advTHANKSance to everyone out there for your insight and wisdom.

That's what I tried for my first tarp. It didn't work out well. It did not pitch tight due to being made to lay over a tent and didn't give good coverage. my hammock got wet when it rained.

Junebugdawn made a tarp from a old tent. Not pretty but it worked.

I used one from a three or four man dome tent for a while. Like mentioned, marginal coverage, hard to get a tight pitch w/o additional pull-outs.

When I gave the GTUL away to my neice, my 11 foot BIAS out grew it. We now spend our time out under an AHE Toxaway. Much better kit for me.

It sure got me hanging until I could get something with a little better coverage. My friend, SecretPrez, has a tarp made out of a tent that had the floor taken out of it. It's pretty cool cause it has a door and windows! Great coverage!

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Originally Posted by HamMike

That's what I tried for my first tarp. It didn't work out well. It did not pitch tight due to being made to lay over a tent and didn't give good coverage. my hammock got wet when it rained.

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This was my experience as well. I tried several rain flies from tents and none of them worked. I wouldn't waste my time, but good luck if you do.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to at least try it out in the back yard. We've had almost 4" of rain in as many days (good time to test). I think since it's not a dome tent the rain fly *may* make the span I'm looking for.

You might want to try a tent footprint instead. Of course, you could just get a Kelty Noah 9 or any other nylon tarp. Sportsman's Guide sells a Guide Gear tarp that might work for you.

Here's an assortment of coated nylon tarps.

Or, you could just get a PE tarp from Harbor Freight for less than $10. I use an 8x10 tarp from HF and it works fine. After you handle it a bit, it will pack down to about the size of a 1 liter Nalgene bottle.

I scrounged some tents with the same thing in mind, but since the flys are curved to form fit the tent, it wasn't feasible to stretch them out to cover a hammock. One fly will be turned into doors/Grizz beaks for my winter tarp.

If you're trashing the tent anyway, don't forget to scrounge plastic hardware/clips, tent poles, zippers, bug netting, the floor, etc. The floor of one of my tents was square, almost 8 ft per side. When strung diamond style, it has a ridgeline of about 11 ft, which is perfect. It's heavy PU coated polyester, of course, but it still works.

As mentioned it won't pitch quite right but it will work and I've had good coverage. That being said be sure that you seal ALL the seams really well bc of the fact that it gathers in certain areas and will hold water in place and it will seep through. Trust me, to my shame I know from experience.

I have used the type of rainfly in question as a tarp tent for ground sleeping, it worked but was not ideal. I had to use the pole as the ridgeline, because as othrrs have mentioned it won't pitch taught otherwise. I had to guyout with shockcord all the way around to get a proper pitch and it was barely big enough for a single person to sleep on the ground. I doubt it would work well for a hammock because of it's short ridgeline. However as Jeff says "impossible only takes longer" give it a try and let us know what your experience is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beeker

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to at least try it out in the back yard. We've had almost 4" of rain in as many days (good time to test). I think since it's not a dome tent the rain fly *may* make the span I'm looking for.

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having had a couple of these EUREKAS, i might suggest you take the fly & stretch it from the peak @ both ends

the arch that is built into the fly will then become quite apparent & easily remedied

allow the arch to drop in the center, giving you a straight top edge

pin, mark & then sew the arch, inside the ridge line w/ a fold over seam

worst case scenario would be the need to seam seal it from the inside, after trimming

Eureka products are well made of good materials

& if my remembery is correct, you will have built in tensioners on the corners

you may have to instal a small grommet in each end of the ridge line, where the pole ends fit in already reenforced points

GO FOR IT, the only thing you could loose would be a little time, some seam sealer & a coupla grommets

keep us posted

sw

I love a challenge! This is doable, but, it takes some extra to get it done. Dug out the old 10x10 Coleman dome tent and snagged that rain fly. This fly covers the sides of the tent and is kind of in "porch" mode over the front and back with a single pole running front to back holding them out. So I figured that to get rid of that center gutter effect I had to get the center up. So I put up an extra ridgeline as high as I could reach, flipped the fly over and turned it 90 degrees. Center had a couple of little strings I attached to the high ridgeline, tied what were the middle side pullouts to the low ridgeline above my suspension with taughtline hitches and snugged it up. Pulled the sides (what were the front and back) out and Viola! Got a rain fly turned into a tarp. Any wrinkles were on the diagonal. Ideally, I'd have to sew a loop or strings on the outside of the dead center so it could be right side out, put up that extra ridgeline or have a non-widowmaker branch above to pull the center up with a cord. Take the pole along and I can go porch mode on both side of the hammock! Saw where someone suggested putting the thing up, marking the "gutter", sewing and seam sealing. If I didn't think the wife would one day want to go tent camping again, I'd do just that and save myself the expense of a tarp.

You might could put a pole mod in the center that would round out the top.

Yeah, if the sectional pole was a little more limber it would work better, as it is the slight curve it imparts is only 3 or 4 inches higher in the center than the ends and it is way too stiff to try to pull the ends closer together.

Here's what it looks like. Sorry about the mess, this is my little "play area" in my warehouse where I do all my hobbies and vehicle maintenance.

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/...0723132145.jpg

If you pull the corners out, you get gullies, so the tie outs are the strings used to secure fly to tent poles (loop on the outside for staking - remember, fly is inside out). Pulled the corners together and you get quasi 3/4 doors. so below these pullouts is another 10 in. or so of material that'll flap in the wind. Hooking something into the pole insert and staking down the center of the side might help too.